Olympic Primer – August 9th

NBC puts out a daily press release noting the highlights of their television coverage for the next day. Given the difficulty sometimes in knowing what event is being televised when and where, we'll share that schedule from NBC with you the previous night so you can set your DVRs and plan accordingly. The schedule is sorted by network. Below NBC's press release we'll add the live times at the bottom for gold medal events you can catch online as well. All times are eastern.

Two big American finals happen tomorrow with the women's water polo gold medal game (USA v Spain) happening at 1:40 ET live on NBC and the women's soccer gold medal game (USA v Japan) live on NBCSN at 2:45 ET. Also, Usain Bolt runs in the 200 meter final that'll air in primetime and live online during the afternoon session from Olympic Stadium beginning at 1:30 ET.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 9 (Day 13)

NBC

10 a.m. – 5 p.m. (9 a.m. CT/PT)

Synchronized Swimming – Team Qualifying (LIVE)

Gymnastics – Rhythmic Qualifying

Track and Field – Qualifying Rounds

Women’s Volleyball – Semifinal (LIVE)

Women’s Water Polo – Bronze Medal

Australia vs. Hungary (LIVE)

Women’s Water Polo – Gold Medal Final (LIVE)

U.S. vs. Spain (LIVE)

Men’s Beach Volleyball – Gold MedalFinal (LIVE)

Emanuel/Alison (Brazil) vs. Brink/Reckermann (Germany)

Canoeing – Sprint Gold Medal Final

Women’s Swimming – Marathon

· Key qualifying rounds in track and field, including the women’s high jump and the men’s 4x400m relay. The U.S. has won nearly every 4x400m competition since the event was added to the Olympic program in 1908, and is favored again in London. Double-amputee Oscar Pistorius is expected to run as part of the South African team.

· LIVE (ET/CT) coverage of the women’s water polo gold medal final. The U.S. has won silver at each of the last three Olympics.

· LIVE (ET/CT) coverage of the women’s volleyball semifinal, which should feature the U.S. women. Led by Hugh McCutcheon, who coached the U.S. men to the Olympic title in 2008, the American women are favored to win their first Olympic gold.

· LIVE (ET/CT) coverage of the bronze medal match in men’s beach volleyball from Horse Guards Parade in the heart of ceremonial London.

· Plus, the women’s open water swimming gold medal final from the middle of picturesque Hyde Park, and a gold medal final in canoeing.

8 p.m. – Midnight (ET/PT)

Track and Field – Gold Medal Finals

Men’s 200M

Decathlon

Men’s 800M

Men’s Triple Jump

Women’s Diving – Platform Gold Medal Final

Women’s Volleyball Semifinal – U.S. South Korea

Men’s Cycling – BMX Quarterfinals

· Four days after the 100m, Jamaica’s electrifying sprint kingUsain Bolt returns for his second final of the Games, the 200m. Bolt won both races in Beijing – both in world record time – and is aiming to become the first man in history to sweep the sprints twice. American Wallace Spearmon is hoping to erase the bitter memory of four years ago, when he crossed the line in third but missed out on a bronze medal because of a lane violation. Bolt’s chief competition could be his own training partner, Yohan Blake, who is the second-fastest 200m runner in history. In the decathlon, track and field’s grueling two-day event wraps up with a pair of Americans expected to compete for gold: two-time world championTrey Hardee and Ashton Eaton, who set a world record at Trials in front of his home crowd in Eugene, Oregon. In the men’s 800m,Nick Symmonds pursues perhaps an even more elusive target: Kenyan world record holder David Rudisha. And in field events, the triple jump duo of Christian Taylor and Will Claye, who finished 1-2 at the World Indoor Championships, try to extend their dominance to the Olympic stage.

· At the Aquatics Centre, America’s high divers take to the 10m platform, the same event that produced the last U.S. diving medal, when Laura Wilkinson won gold in Sydney. Twelve years later, among the new generation of women taking the three-story Olympic plunge will be Brittany Viola, whose father Frank was the 1987 World Series MVP with the Minnesota Twins.

· On the sand at Horse Guards Parade, beach volleyball wraps up its sizzling run with the men’s gold medal final. Americans Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser are the reigning Olympic champions.

· And in BMX, all the thrills and spills of the most action-packed 40 seconds in sports return to the Olympics as the quarterfinal heats get underway. The top American is Connor Fields, a 19-year-old from Las Vegas.

12:35 a.m. – 1:35 a.m. (ET/PT)

Track and Field – Gold Medal Final

Women’s Volleyball Semifinal – Brazil vs. Japan

· The women with the best arms in the world take center stage at the Olympic Stadium for the women’s javelin competition. Czech thrower Barbora Spotakova, who attended the University of Minnesota for a year, will attempt to defend her Olympic title from Beijing and take aim at her world record throw of more than 237 feet.

NBC SPORTS NETWORK

8 a.m. – 8 p.m.

Women’s Soccer –

Gold Medal Final: U.S. vs. Japan (LIVE)

Bronze Medal Canada vs. France (LIVE)

Women’s Basketball Semifinal – U.S. vs. Australia (LIVE)

Synchronized Swimming – Team Qualifying (LIVE)

Women’s Wrestling – Gold Medal Finals

Men’s Field Hockey Semifinal – Netherlands vs. Great Britain

Taekwondo – Qualifying Round

NBC SPORTS NETWORK HIGHLIGHTS

· A big day for fans of U.S. team sports, highlighted by LIVE coverage of the bronze and gold medal women’s soccer games. The U.S. women are the two-time defending Olympic champions. Plus, LIVE coverage of the women’s basketball semifinal round. With a stacked roster of former UConn stars like Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore, leading to the nickname “U.S. Huskies,” the Americans are favored to win their fifth straight gold.

· The first-ever gold medals in women’s boxing will be awarded on Thursday, as Irish sporting legend Katie Taylor looks to capture the one title she doesn’t currently own. With only a few international fights to her name, teenage sensation Claressa Shields of Flint, Michigan, could shock the deep middleweight field.